Responding to Globalization: Social Policy in Emerging Market Economies

The article addresses some of the major themes influencing the development and reform of social policy in emerging market economies. It is argued in the first section that growing concern with social policy is largely associated with the increasing openness of these economies – globalization – and the new systemic risks that domestic economies now face. We look at the broad reform trends that seem to be shaping the social policy agenda around the world, particularly privatization of social insurance, means-testing of benefits, and decentralization of provision. This raises the question of whether or not the provision of social insurance is moving toward some type of convergence. In the final section, the role of the international community in the social policy debate is examined, with a focus on the World Bank and International Monetary Fund (IMF).